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5 things to do to keep more comfortable during electrical outages from storms

blackouts are fun by sandcastlematt

In the last post, TheGardenLady listed five things you should do to prepare your plants for the upcoming winter.  Here are some more tips to keep in mind if you lose power when it’s cold outside and you lose your power, as TheGardenLady did after Hurricane Sandy hit.

1) If you have a gas range but no heat warming your house, warm your kitchen and surrounding rooms by filling your largest pots with water, bringing  the water to a boil and then lowering the heat and letting the water give off steam. The steam can raise the temperature in your house by about 10 degrees so that it feels comfortable. TheGardenLady uses her biggest soup pots, putting one on each of the 4 burners. This is what our grandmothers did before central heating.  Keep the pots filled with water, adding water as they boil down but don’t let them boil so hard they put out the flame and don’t let the water boil out.

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5 things TheGardenLady wants readers to do to get outdoor plants ready for winter

Battening down the hatches by murkredi

Fall and early winter is the time gardeners should be getting yard and garden plants ready for winter cold. Here are five things TheGardenLady wants readers to do to get outdoor plants ready for winter.

1) Check trees for diseased, dead or broken limbs of trees and cut them off so that they don’t fly off during a storm.

2) Put potted plants into your garage if you have one- take out the plants on sunny days to revive them- or put the planters with the plants in your basement window wells.

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What to do with damaged trees after Hurricane Sandy

Calm Before the Storm by pheαnix

TheGardenLady’s heart goes out to all the people who lost so much in the wake of the massive storm Sandy. I cannot fathom how people are coping with all the devastation.

For those who were lucky to just lose trees or branches, I offer a little advice.

If there are broken branches, don’t hesitate to have them cut off. This is not real pruning- you can cut off dead or damaged branches any time of the year.

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Plants in the Container – Thrillers, Fillers and Spillers

One of Polly’s Pots

You have the containers that you want to fill with plants and those containers have one or more holes in the bottom. You have covered the hole or holes with something that will keep the soil in but will let excess water trickle out and you have filled the container with good soil. Remember, the better the soil, the happier and healthier the plants will be. TheGardenLady wrote that you can buy potting soil in the stores. There are those purists who don’t like to buy their soil in bags, saying it is not alive and healthy. They prefer all compost. But gardeners will have success with good bagged soil. And when you have saved enough compost, the next time you make containers, you can use your own compost. That is why it is so very important to compost all your garbage and lawn clippings and leaves.

So what can you grow in a container? Just about anything that grows in the garden. If you have a container large enough you can plant trees. If you have very small containers you can plant alpine plants. You can plant just one plant in a container. For example, there are containers called strawberry pots where people like to plant strawberries. Or you can use them for planting succulent plants or herbs. (see here)  You can plant more than one plant of the same kind like Begonia ‘Dragon Wings Red’  that will create an impressive show.

And you can use your containers to grow a variety of plants. This is what I am hoping readers will do.

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Is there an eco-friendly way to repel woodchucks?

Family Dinner by anoldent

In June, TheGardenLady filled two huge planters with flowers to decorate the deck for an upcoming party. I planted the thriller and filler plants in the urns and my spiller plant was the ornamental sweet potato vine. The planters looked pretty and the spiller plants happily spilled down the sides of the urns and started vining up the side of the deck. I was so pleased with the look.

I was pleased, that is, until the other day when I noticed that the leaves of one of the vines were completely missing. I wondered what could have eaten the leaves so completely from one urn but not on the vine in the other urn. I didn’t think slugs or snails could have eaten the entire leaves- I had never seen slugs or snails on the vines but had seen some of the leaves riddled with holes. This was different. Now there was not a leaf on one of the vines. Since it is fall, I wasn’t worried about losing the annual plants. But I was mighty curious to find out what animal was dining on my sweet potato vines.

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Kabocha

Kabocha (Japanese Squash) by moogs

Are you planning your Thanksgiving feast yet?  When you do, consider serving Kabocha, pronounced kah-bow-cha as part of the meal. The Latin name for kabocha is Cucurbita maxima and the common name is Japanese pumpkin or Japanese squash.

This delicious, sweet tasting pumpkin/squash is one of the sweetest of all the pumpkins/squashes. You eat almost every part of the Kabocha. You don’t have to peel it because both the skin and flesh are eaten.  (see here)

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How to get your pumpkin ready for pie and seeds

Pumpkin by UmmAbdrahmaan..

The easiest way to make pumpkin ready to make the pie is to cut it horizontally through the middle to get two “halves.” Try to cut so those are real halves to cook evenly.  I scoop out all the seeds and save them. I then take a grapefruit serrated  spoon and scrape out as much of the strings that are in the pumpkin cavities. You don’t want those strings. Then I take the largest jelly roll type tin* I have- you need sides on the tin- and put the cut edges of the pumpkin cut side down on the sheet- the skin side and stem are facing upward. (see here)  Some people put a little grease on the bottom of the sheet and put a little water in the bottom of the sheet. Those who do this say it keeps the pumpkin moist. You can do this if you want.   TheGardenLady doesn’t bother doing these two things because I find that the pumpkin sends out so much water that it is unnecessary. I find that I may have to take a turkey baster to remove a lot of the liquid given off in the baking of the pumpkin so that it doesn’t overflow the pan and dirty the oven. Then I put the oven temperature up to about 450 degrees Farenheit (230 degrees Celsius). I check on the pumpkin in about 45 minutes- depending on the size will determine how long it remains in the oven. I leave it baking until it is soft. When you press on the skin it will feel soft or sort of cave into itself. Some say a fork will pierce the skin.

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Pumpkin Time

Another Shot of the Same Pumpkin and Watermelon (Sans Clown) by bill barber

It is pumpkin time again. Can one believe someone could grow a pumpkin that weighed more than a ton? A ton is 2,000 lbs. And this year’s, 2012, winning pumpkin weighed 2009 lbs.  Check it out!  I find this amazing.

If you want to grow gigantic pumpkins you have to start with pumpkins that grow to large size and then spend time encouraging the things to grow larger. For the secrets of growing enormous pumpkins, go here.

TheGardenLady wonders if the flesh of this gargantuan pumpkin is edible?  Or do they feed it to the animals or just compost it after saving the seeds to use for next year’s gigantic pumpkin contest?  (see here)

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Art Tea

Tea Flower by autan

Tea seems to be reemerging as a very popular drink these days in the United States. It has always been popular in England. But after the tea tax revolt that started the American Revolution, most Americans seemed to drink more coffee. According to Wikipedia and other research, Americans still drink more coffee- most tea in the US is served as iced tea. But hot tea is very popular now, and, especially with all the health benefits of green tea that has been in the news lately, more people will be drinking the hot brew not only when one has a cold, but to prevent illnesses.

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Indian Summer – a time to enjoy many blooming flowers

Indian Summer in New England by Werner Kunz

I love Indian Summer. I wondered about the history of the term. I found this explanation for it.   Whatever the reason for it, I love the warmth before freezing weather and every year I wish Indian Summer would last a long time. I love it because so many flowers take this time to bloom. Not just chrysanthemums and asters that are in bloom and can take some frost; but many fall flowers have their last “hurrah” by sending forth flowers before winter sets in.

I know that the kiss of the frost makes for a great apple taste. But I hate when that first frost strikes because it cuts short the buds of many flowers that would otherwise open.

It is amazing the number and kinds of flowers in bloom in my garden right now.

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